Ford, ZoneTrader.com Form New Partnership
9 March 2000
Ford, ZoneTrader.com Form New Partnership To Hold On-Line Equipment Auctions
DEARBORN, Mich., March 9 Ford Motor Company
today advanced its strategy in e-commerce by announcing a new partnership with
ZoneTrader.com to create a new process for the disposal of a wide variety of
its surplus capital equipment.
Under the agreement announced today, ZoneTrader.com will be responsible
for managing the disposition through their online marketplace of all of Ford's
capital equipment that is not covered under service contracts with the
original manufacturers. These items include machine tooling equipment, office
furniture and other capital equipment. ZoneTrader.com will manage the
auditing of the surplus goods, test and refurbish them as needed, and sell
them with a money-back guarantee through an online marketplace operated at its
web site. Ford also will become an investor in ZoneTrader.com.
"For the first time, our used assets will be available to both the
automotive and non-automotive markets," said Carlos Mazzorin, Ford Motor
Company group vice president - Global Purchasing and South America. "One of
our biggest challenges is to improve asset utilization and recovery. Today's
announcement brings the full power and speed of the Internet to that
challenge," he said.
"As the world's second largest auto manufacturer, it's essential that we
efficiently dispose of our excess equipment," said Brian Kelley, Ford Motor
Company vice president and president, ConsumerConnect. "By taking surplus
items off our hands and using auctions over the Web to determine their fair
market value, ZoneTrader.com will provide us a tremendous service," Kelley
added. "They also have established methods for tracking the entire process,"
he said.
Initially, ZoneTrader.com is providing asset disposition services for
Ford's Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1. After a successful completion of the
Cleveland project, Ford and ZoneTrader.com plan to expand the relationship to
other Ford plants in the U.S. Ford will employ the ZoneTrader.com Strategic
Warehouse Advisory Team (SWAT) service to help develop processes for tracking
and storing some surplus assets within its own sites while they wait for their
sale at auction.
"Ford's selection of ZoneTrader.com as a preferred strategic supplier for
asset recovery brings us a potential new source of supply in a new product
category for the online marketplace we operate," said David Gig Erich,
ZoneTrader.com's chairman and chief executive officer. "In addition, we view
Ford's investment in our company as a strong vote of confidence in our
approach to providing a valuable business-to-business service on the web."
Ford Motor Company has announced a number of strategic partnerships and
alliances that have moved the company to the forefront of e-commerce and
business-to-business ventures over the Internet. On Feb. 25, Ford, General
Motors and DaimlerChrysler announced the formation of a single business-to-
business Internet-based supplier exchange that would create the world's
largest virtual marketplace. Ford also became the first partner with
Microsoft's CarPoint, the leading independent all-brands, online automotive
buy and referral business. With Yahoo!, Ford entered into a groundbreaking
Internet site that allows Ford Motor Company customers to set up their own
personal auto page through Yahoo!Autos or OwnerConnection. A joint venture
with TeleTech Holdings will consolidate Ford's customer contact centers around
the world with a central data base.
About Ford Motor Company
Founded in 1903, Ford Motor Company (http://www.ford.com ) is the second largest
automotive manufacturer and the largest truck manufacturer in the world, with
more than 15,800 dealers in more than 200 markets and more than 100 plants in
38 countries. In 1999, Ford Motor Company earned an all-time automotive
record of $7.2 billion, the fourth consecutive year of record operating
earnings. Ford Motor Company's automotive brands are Aston Martin, Ford,
Jaguar, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Th!nk and Volvo. Ford Credit, a wholly-owned
subsidiary, is the world's largest auto financing company. Other major
business units include Visteon Automotive Systems and Hertz.
About ZoneTrader.com
ZoneTrader.com helps Fortune 500 companies and leading manufacturers
recover value from their surplus and used business equipment by refurbishing
and re-selling it through an online marketplace. Everything ZoneTrader.com
sells is inspected, tested, and stamped ZoneTrader-Approved before it is
listed for sale, which means customers get great prices on top-quality
products every time. All items are shipped directly from ZoneTrader.com so
buyers always know who stands behind the items they buy. For more
information, visit ZoneTrader.com's website at http://www.zonetrader.com ,
call 612-543-5288 or send your request by e-mail to info@zonetrader.com .
